Between Us Both
by Rael Ellan
Summary: Xemnas is dead. He wanders aimlessly between the worlds, looking for a way back to life. And when he finds himself confronted with Reno, all hell starts to break loose...
1. The Spark

**A.N. OK so this is my first attempt at a crossover fic. Wrote it a few years ago and thought it may as well do something productive, so here it is! Review Please!**

Two points of red light glimmered coldly amidst the darkness. The air around them began to tremble, shuddering with apprehension. Maybe this time, after all his efforts, it would work. Maybe, this time.

Slowly, a body began to take form: tall and thin, crowned with grey, matted hair. The face was thin and tanned and a smile of triumph hovered expectantly about the lips.

"Almost there. Just a little more and-"

The form vanished, separating into a thousand fragmented particles that spun away in angry circles. Xemnas sighed. This time was no different.

Exactly two years ago, according to his misplaced sense of time, Xemnas had died. His memories of that time had faded and tarnished, until now he had only a vague sense of self. Xemnas tried to cling to the few images that he recognised to draw himself back into being, but they always slipped away from him. The more he grasped, the more he reached out to them, the more they seemed to pull away.

Surrendering, for the moment, to the hopelessness of his situation, he began to float again. Without his body, he had travelled to many worlds and places since his death. Some were familiar: the Castle with the waterfalls and the garden; the strange town covered in snow. Others, he did not recognise, such as the one he now found himself in.

This world was grey. The ruin of the city lay rotting beneath a grey sky. People wandered about the streets, beside him, even _through_ him on occasion, with no knowledge of his presence. The buildings sagged.

He was thinking of leaving this dull, depressing world, when a voice caught his attention.

"Ah, come on boss! That wasn't _my_ fault! And 'sides I already fixed the damn chopper."

Xemnas froze. That voice. Where had he heard it before?

"We've been over this. Until that helicopter starts flying you are still in debt to the company."

The second voice was deeper with a rich, musical quality, laced with the lightest of threats. A voice in control.

"Come on, boss. It –"

"Enough." The first voice was cut off. Xemnas could hear the individual shifting uncomfortably inside the room. He waited outside the door, momentarily forgetting that he was intangible to the humans inside.

"No matter the situation, we need Cloud on our side. As you know, Tseng is still on leave, Elena won't return for another few days and Rude... well. He is unsuitable for the task."

There was an uncomfortable pause.

"So ya want me ta convince the chocobo to consider helpin' us out?"

What _was _so familiar about that voice...?

"Yes."

A heavy sigh reverberated through the door.

"Fine, yo. But I don't think anyone could convince him to work with us again, yo."

The door opened and Xemnas glanced up. He took in the man standing before him in a second: the red hair; green eyes; thin, lanky frame and the tattoos. Memories drifted back to him: Sora, Castle Oblivion, the Organisation and... Axel. That was his name. Xemnas remembered how it felt to grin in triumph. The spark of an idea ignited in his brain.

Axel paused in the doorway and for one dreadful moment, Xemnas thought he had been seen. But the red-head just shivered and turned to speak over one shoulder.

"Don't suppose we could get the heating fixed could we? Freezin' my ass off out here."

There was an answering chuckle and Axel closed the door. He wandered off, down an adjacent hallway, and Xemnas let him go. The spark had become an inferno in his head and he grinned. It would kill two birds with one stone...


	2. The Switch

As Reno stalked away down the corridor, he found himself sighing in resignation. Having to pay back for a helicopter that he had crashed nearly six months previously was a bitch at the best of times. But this?

Cloud seemed to find the redhead irritating at the best of times. Reno had never quite been able to work out why. It was most likely to be his links to Shinra and the past that Cloud so eagerly longed to forget. Rude disagreed, saying that it was his partner's general attitude that annoyed the blonde swordsman.

"Either way, it's a damn hopeless situation."

A woman turned to stare at him as he walked past the water cooler, thinking he had been addressing her. He flashed a flirtatious grin and waited until she blushed and looked away, murmuring an apology.

He continued walking and wandered out of the building. New scaffolding hovered precariously against the walls. After Rufus had revealed himself to the press, only a few weeks earlier, work had begun on renovating the old structure as part of a project to 'restore Midgar to its former glory.' One of Reeve's phrases, Reno was sure. It didn't sound like one of the President's press lines.

He jogged leisurely in front of a van whose driver cursed his sense of timing as he swerved and almost crashed into a neat stack of delivery crates that were acting as steps. A group of children, watching from atop another stack, applauded Reno loudly. He bowed, dramatically, continuing to walk backwards into a nearby alleyway.

"A bold performance."

Reno turned sharply as the sound of dark laughter echoed down the passageway.

"Who's there?"

A shadow in the far corner shifted, slowly.

"Now, now. Mustn't spoil the suspense."

The soft reprimand was accompanied by a dark chuckle.

Reno's fingers curled around the handle of his EMR. He thought he could make out a vague form in one far corner: a darker point against the shadows. It shifted, as though raising one arm. Every nerve in his body wanted to strike out, but Rufus had specifically ordered the Turks not to do anything that might tarnish the new Shinra's reputation.

"What are you looking for over there?"

The voice sounded close. Far too close. Next to his ear.

Reno turned back towards the street. The boys had gone. A lone man was sitting on the stack of crates reading a tabloid. He had a slowly smoking cigarette in the corner of his mouth.

"Wrong again."

The voice was behind him again. It laughed as his eyes fruitlessly searched the alleyway for any sign of the presence.

"Shall I help you?"

As he turned again, he found himself facing a tall, thin man with red, shining eyes. Long, grey hair framed a tanned face, which sported a smirk of triumph.

"Surprised, Axel?"

The man approached him slowly, seeming to float over the ground rather than walk upon it.

"Axel? Wha-"

The man was standing before him now. Reno felt his back collide with something hard and realised that he had been backing away, towards the wall. A sudden anger flushed through him: how _dare_ this man stand up to a Turk? He gripped the handle of his weapon tighter and pulled himself to stand straighter.

"The fuck dude? The hell d'you want?"

He flashed a cocky grin and took a step forwards so that he was no longer pressed against the wall.

The man played along, stepping backwards. This time, Reno could see the flow of his long black robe as he moved. Nothing supernatural, nothing out of the ordinary.

_Yeah, 'coz just anyone can walk up that quietly, right?_

"Look, why don't we come to an agreement." He smiled condescendingly, a look he had perfected from Tseng. "You get outta my way and don't bother me again, and we say no more of this. Sound fair?"

The man's smile widened.

"It would indeed sound fair, if I was at all feeling intimidated by you. It seems that you do not yet have that advantage."

Reno sighed dramatically and looked up at the man, shaking his head.

"Well, I didn't wanna have to do this, yo."

_Rufus and his rules be damned; this guy doesn't know how to take a hint._

He pulled the EMR out of its holster at its hip with a flourish. The stick sang in his hand as he activated its electrical pulse and swung it out towards the figure. He threw his weight behind it, to ensure that when it struck it would leave the man reeling.

It never hit.

Instead of colliding with the man's broad chest, it fell through and Reno fell with it.

"Oh dear, that really wasn't very sensible, Axel. You should have known better."

From the floor, Reno glared up at the man as the red eyes began to glow with an eerie light as though infused with materia. The wind picked up around them and the man seemed to be falling towards him, arms outstretched and his mouth open wide in a grotesque grin.

Reno had time to mutter one last thing before his mind went blank.

"Oh shit!"


	3. The Plan

**A.N. Sorry for the slow update! Working past my writers block. Slowly... Next chapter will be longer!**

Xemnas squinted as he opened his new eyes. He felt strangely heavy, weighted... solid. He grinned.

Slowly, he levered himself up into a sitting position and examined the damage. There was a small cut on one of his fingers. His head throbbed and he raised one arm to press against it. He groaned. Perhaps it would have been more sensible to attach Axel at home, where he could have fallen on a soft bed.

He staggered to his feet and the world began to spin. Stumbling, he leant against the wall and waited for the dizzy spell to pass.

He walked towards the end of the alley, and gazed out at the world. It was strange to think that less than a few minutes ago he had been floating here, without body or form. It seemed somehow different, but it was a difference that he couldn't quite place.

Feeling stronger, he wandered across the street, running the last part as a van sped around the corner. It beeped at him and its driver leant out of the window, yelling some profanity that he didn't catch. He tried to retort something, but the man had already disappeared around the next corner.

Shrugging, he walked on.

The streets opened up before him and soon he found himself caught in the middle of a crowd of people. He found himself watching them, crisscrossing each others paths, stumbling over cracks in the tarmac.

A woman emerged from the door of a bar, taking a deep breath in the crisp air. She was wiping her hands on a small tea towel and paused to watch him pass.

"Reno?"

Xemnas ignored her and walked past the bar. Behind him, a neon light came on over the door.

_Seventh Heaven_.

* * *

><p>It had taken Xemnas hours to find his way back to the building where he ha d recognised Axel, the traitor. It had been surprisingly difficult to navigate the crowded streets, particularly as the light began to fade.<p>

As he got closer to the building, people had started to notice him. As the darkness closed in on the city, he was no longer just a nameless face. People stopped to stare at him. The crowd parted like a wave as he stalked through.

For a while, he had basked in the attention, revelling in the acknowledgement in their eyes. Then it had begun to unnerve him. He had forgotten that he was in Axel's body and started to question himself. He didn't think he'd ever seen these people before, and he didn't think he'd ever done anything against them. Not yet, anyway.

When he reached the door of the building, marked by the large _Shinra_ sign on its side, a woman with a clipboard smiled at him. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

Xemnas tried to smile, and pushed past her towards the closed door. A plaque on the door told him to 'push,' and so he did. It didn't move.

He turned to grin at the woman once more, trying to seem casual. He turned and pressed his back against the door, trying to push it open. It didn't move.

The woman was watching him closely now, frowning. She seemed about to come over and say something, so he leant against the door once more, only to have it disappear from behind him.

He found himself instead leaning against a warm, solid body and sprang forwards with a small cry. He found himself facing a tall, dark-skinned man wearing sun glasses. He looked down at Xemnas, his face completely impassive, before moving back and holding the door open to usher him through.

"You forget the code again? I know they change it every day, Red, but that's just dumb."

Xemnas choose not to respond. They walked towards an elevator and Xemnas carried on into the waiting box. The big man reached around and pushed the button marked '70.'

"Boss wants you. Now. I'm clocking out. See you at Tifa's when you're done?"

The doors slid shut before Xemnas felt obliged to answer.

Dull, repetitive lift music tinkled in the background of his brain. A new plan was starting to take shape. He had thought that it would be more sensible to get himself used to the new body before attempting to regain his former power. But this was such a perfect opportunity...

He smiled as the lift jarred to a halt.


	4. The Game

**A.N. I would like to apologise, first and foremost, for the amount of time it has taken to upload this next chapter. I'm so Sorry! But I hope it is enjoyable anyway! **

Rufus Shinra sat in his office, gazing out of the window over the sprawling city below him. It was grey and dull and dark and entirely oppressive, but recently he found he had grown fond of it.

He had recovered from the geostigma with a new outlook on life; he had been spared twice now. He wasn't so sure there would be a third.

The large desk in front of him had been delivered to his office with a tag that read simply: 'New start, new paperwork, new desk. Reeve.' It had been a convenient gift; he had needed a new desk anyway, moving back into the old building. And it was a nice desk too. Solid and smooth with a mahogany finish.

Absentmindedly, he ran his fingers along it.

He did wish that it had been someone other than Reeve though. The man was irritating with his senseless optimism. Rufus was a realist, and working with the director of the WRO sometimes gave him a headache.

He was brought out of his musings by the sound of the door opening behind him. Startled, he turned his head towards the door. The familiar figure of a lanky redhead shifted in the shadows.

"What is it, Reno?"

His father would have been proud of that: not a hint of emotion.

"I was just wondering if you could help me."

Rufus sighed.

"Reno, we've been through this already. You are to convince Cloud as a punishment for costing me another substantial amount of money and paperwork: the last thing we need when getting started again."

Reno shifted uncomfortably, shrugging his shoulders as though trying to adjust his jacket.

"That's not what I meant."

Rufus frowned.

"Then what?"

"Actually, there are a number of things I think you can tell me." The redhead moved forward, to stand beside Rufus' chair. He stared out of the window. "Firstly, how long have I worked for you?"

Rufus stared at the other man for a moment, trying to decide whether or not he was joking.

"I… don't know, Reno. Maybe ten years. Maybe more." He paused. "But even drunk you have enough memory to know that. Why do you ask?"

He narrowed his eyes, just slightly. The question had, he admitted silently, unnerved him. Reno didn't usually beat about the bush when he wanted something, he just said it.

"Ten years…" Reno continued to stare out of the window, crossing his arms across his chest and frowning, as though racking his brains.

"I hate liars."

Rufus, despite all his practise, his experience at being completely and utterly non-responsive, at giving as little away as possible, jumped. He couldn't help it. Less than four months ago, someone else had said that. Reno had sounded like Kadaj.

"Reno? What's-"

The redhead turned towards him and cocked his head to one side, considering. A grin slowly spread across his foxy features.

Rufus regarded him for a moment and then began to slide his hand under the desk, towards the alarm button. His fingers had almost found it, when Reno darted forward, snatching at his wrist and pushing him in his chair backwards across the room.

"Now, now. Play nicely and I might even let you live."

Rufus took a deep, steadying breath, and forced himself to stare up at the Turk, who was still standing by his desk. He lifted up the nameplate and studied it.

"'President R. Shinra.' Today, Mr Shinra, you are going to play my game." He began to walk, purposefully, towards the chair. "Don't make this difficult for me. If you do, I may have to change the rules."

He leant close to the younger man and pressed the cold metal of his EMR against the pale cheek.

"Shall we begin?"


	5. The Lost

**A.N. Really sorry about how late this chapter is, but I just couldn't think what to write for this. This chapter is from Reno's point of view again, and he's feeling a little bit lost. **

**R&R please! Enjoy!**

Reno slowly opened his eyes, and then closed them again. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't quite seem to break free of this absurd nightmare.

He was lying in a sea of colours that were twisting and pulsing to individual rhythms and beats. They flowed over and around him and hurt his head with their glowing, fluctuating patterns. They were pretty, he supposed, but there was something else to them that made him uneasy.

They were solid: he could feel them brush past his shoulder, against his cheek. They were warm. They also, to his distress, appeared to be the only thing supporting his body.

"The hell is this place?"

The sound of his own voice gave him a temporary strength and he rose, shakily, to his feet. It felt as though there was something solid beneath him, some kind of invisible platform.

Reno grinned: he knew what this was.

Officially, the Turks had never been allowed in the Soldier training rooms, but so long as they didn't destroy anything or interrupt an actual session, no one had ever really cared. Besides, it was difficult to stop the Turks from going anywhere: how do you lock down someone who can hack all the codes?

Even knowing what it was, walking without seeing the floor was unnerving and Reno stretched out his arms for better balance. This made him feel a little better: it was something he used to do in the slums, scrambling across rooftops and walls. It was a little piece of his childhood that had always been innocent. He had done it for the sense of freedom it had given him, to reach out his arms towards the metal sky of the plate.

He closed his eyes, remembering what it felt like to be a child. He had never been innocent, not growing up in the slums. He had been optimistic, naive. He thought he could become rich just stealing, that he could buy his way onto the upper plates that rich men would come begging to him to agree to steal for them. Instead, he had made killing his living.

He lowered his arms. The innocence of the moment was gone.

He began to get increasingly annoyed with the place. As he walked, it appeared to bend around him. The walls expanded and closed with each step he took, and the dizzying circles of the rotating colours were beginning to give him a headache.

"Ah, come on. My luck _can't_ be this bad!"

He began to run, charging straight ahead of him and hoping to encounter something, anything. The colours kept moving, the world kept bending, and he found nothing.

He slowed his pace until he was walking once more, strolling lazily onwards with his arms folded across his chest.

There was a breeze now, seeming to blow the colours this way and that around him. He shivered and kept walking. Up ahead, there was a dark shadow. It hovered, a few feet above his head, hanging like a picture frame. He glared at it.

_Of all the damn useless things. Why couldn't you be a window or something?_

The cold intensified and he pulled the blazer of his Turk uniform closer around him. Around him, the colours began to slow, flowing gently around him. He watched a river of red slide past his shoulder. Slivers of blue ice crystals had formed along its back.

Curious, he reached out a hand and touched it.

The crystals shifted, encircling his finger as though drawn to the warmth. The colour was suddenly animate again, zipping away, past the dark shadow, and disappearing into a sheet of green. The crystals hovered around his hand, sticking to his skin and spreading out over his hand.

"Shit!"

Reno shook his hand, violently, and the crystals slid off his skin. They floated elegantly towards the dark shape, seeming about to float around it, when they were suddenly pulled backwards into the darkness.

"The hell?"

With nothing better to do, Reno walked carefully towards it. Curiosity, Tseng had once said, was Reno's biggest flaw.

As he got closer to the shape, ice crystals began to form on his skin. He shifted his hand, watching as they ran across it like a solid droplet of water.

_So whatever this thing is... Is the reason I'm cold?_

Drawing closer to the shadow, he began to see moving shapes in its depths. It felt like he was looking into a deep pool.

He squinted into the rippling, pulsing form, and slowly the shapes began to make sense. He stared, rubbed his eyes, and then stared again.

He could see himself.


End file.
